Ratchet-wrench



UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

VJILLIAM A. BUTLER, OF INDIANAPOLIS, INDIANA, ASSIGNOR, BY MESNE ASSIG'N MENTS, TO BUTLER ELLIPTICAL "WRENCH MANUFACTURING COMPANY.

RATCI-IET-WRENCH.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented N ov; 16, 1920.

Application :filed August 9, 1918. Serial No. 249,123.

To @ZZ w hom t may concern: v

Be it known that I, lWILLIAM A. BUTLER, citizen of the United States, residing at Indianapolis, in the county of Marion and State of Indiana, have invented new and useful Improvements in Ratchet-l/Vrenches, of which the following is a specification.

This invention is an improved ratchet wrench for use inA connection with a socket for turning nuts on bolts and for other similar work, the object of the invention being to provide an improved wrench of this class by means of which a nut may be very rapidly turned until it becomes tight and can then be turned forcibly by means of the handle and tightened to any desired extent or loosened in the same manner and then quickly removed.

TVith the above and other objects in view the invention consists in the construction, combination and arrangement of devices hereinafter described and claimed.

In the accompanying drawings:

Figure 1 is a perspective view of a ratchet wrench constructed and arranged in accordance with my invention and showing the same used in connection with the crank for rapidly turning a nut.

Fig. 2 is an elevation of the wrench with the crank removed.

Fig. 3 is a sectional view of the same on the plane indicated by the line 3 3 of Fig. 2.

Fig. 4C is an elevation of the same with one side removed and disclosing the ratchet wheel and the dog.

Fig. 5 is a detail inverted plan of the crank.

Fig. 6 is a diagrammatic plan showing the shoulder of the crank engaged in the opening of the socket.

Mv improved wrench comprises a handle or lever 1 which is hollow and is formed with a substantially circular head 2 at one end and is also provided with a removable side 3. The removable side is secured by means of screws 4L. Two of these screws also serve to fixedly secure a dog or catch 5 in the hollow handle and which is arranged longitudinally thereof` and near the head, as shown. In the opposite side walls of the head are coincident elliptical bearing slots 6 extending lengthwise at an angle of about forty-five degrees to the longitudinal center of the handle, the longer sides of the slots being parallel for a portion of their length. A ratchet wheel 7 is arranged for rotation in the head and is provided with hubs 8 on opposite sides which are mounted revolubly and also slidably in the obliquely disposed elliptical slots 6. The ratchet wheel also has an opening 9, of angular form in cross-section, extending therethrough and which is adapted to receive the shank or tubular portion of a socket member l5 which may be of any size and adapted to engage and receive a nut of any size. A set of such sockets is provided with each wrench.

Owing to the provision of the elliptical slots 6 and the oblique arrangement of said slots with respect to the length of the handle the ratchet wheel can be shifted by endwise movement of the handle instantly into or out of engagement with the dog or catch 5, and, hence, the ratchet wheel may be turned by step-by-step movement by means of the handle and dog or may be, when disengaged from the dog, turned rapidly in and independently of the handle.

In order to thus rapidly turn the ratchet wheel and hence also the socket and the nut or other work with which the socket is engaged, I provide a crank 10 which has a handle 11 on one side near the end and is provided at the opposite end with a projecting shoulder 12 which is squared and is adapted to be detachably fitted into one end of the extension or hollow shank of the socket. To hold the crank thus engaged with the shank of the socket and prevent casual disengagement of the same, I provide a frictional fastener in the specific form of a spring 13 which is here shown as a bowed or arcuate spring and which is secured on one side of the projecting shoulder 12 and is adapted to engage against one side of the bore of the socket.

The handle with the ratchet wheel and dog are used for turning the socket forcibly and by step-by-step movement as when tightening or loosening a nut and the crank is used for turning the nut rapidly as when starting or taking off the same and when the ratchet wheel by movement of the handle is shifted out of engagement with the dog. y By reason of the dog 5 being placed longitudinally of the handle and having` the teeth on bothdog and wheel engage slightly before the end of theslot is reached by the ratchet wheel the strain due to a pull on the wrench is transmitted through the hub of the wheel and the solid portion of the dog preventing the whole force from being thrown on the teeth alone, thus avoiding a breaking` of the teeth by the shearing stress produced.

Hence, my improved ratchet Wrench enables the Work of taking off or putting on a nut to be very rapidly performed.

Having thus described my invention, l claim:

l. A Wrench comprising a handle, an elliptical slot formed thereon, a ratchet Wheel having an angular opening therein journaled in said slot, a dog fixed to said handle having a single tooth thereon adapted to engage a ratchet tooth When the ratchet Wheel is at one end of said slot, a socket hav- 15 ing a hollow shank fitting into said angular opening, and means adapted to be inserted into said shank forrapidly turning a nut.

2. A Wrench comprising a handle, an elliptical slot formed thereon, a ratchet wheel having` an angular opening therein journaled in said slot, a dog Xed to said handle having a single tooth thereon adapted to engage a ratchet tooth When the ratchet Wheel is at one end of said slot, a socket having a hollow shank fitting into said angular opening, an angular member removably tted into said hollenY shank, and a crank handle fixed thereto,

ln testimony whereof l atiiX my signature.

4 WILLIAM A. BUTER. 

